Center for Genome Research

Founded in 1990 by former Whitehead Member Eric Lander, the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research grew to become one of the largest genome centers in the world and an international leader in the field of genomics and genetics.

When Lander first came to the Institute as a Whitehead Fellow in 1986—trained as a mathematician, not a biologist—Whitehead offered him what it offers all Fellows: an environment in which to take risks. Within just a few years, Lander parlayed that investment into a succession of critical scientific discoveries.

In addition to sequencing the human genome, the Center played a leadership role in sequencing key model organisms such as the mouse, and other organisms essential for locating regions of the genome that are conserved across multiple species.

Scientists at the Center pioneered the effort to identify the human genome’s single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the single letter differences in DNA that might underlie disease susceptibility. The researchers discovered that SNPs travel though populations in large blocks, suggesting that mapping genes for common diseases might be much easier than previously thought.

The Center’s functional genomics group, dedicated to translating sequencing data and technology into direct biomedical applications, devised new genomic strategies for cancer diagnosis, developed a suite of bioinformatics tools and developed methods for mapping disease across human populations.

Lander credits his team’s success to the unique resources he found at Whitehead and within the broader MIT community “I count myself extraordinarily lucky to have accidentally found Whitehead Institute,” recounts Lander. “If I hadn’t fallen into this community, there is simply no way in the world that I could have done a tenth of the things that I’ve had the pleasure to do in my career. The Whitehead is an extraordinary confident community that knows what its standards are about and is not afraid to take bets on young people.”

In November of 2003, the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research became the cornerstone facility of the Broad Institute, a new research collaboration between Whitehead Institute, MIT and Harvard University. For more information, visit the Broad Institute web site.

Last updated September 25, 2008.